I have heard words to that effect for a long time.Stop preaching to the converted, take the music to a new crowd.

Does it really work ? Has the music prospered due to the so called crossovers ?

From Marley Playing at rock gigs, Tosh with the Rolling Stones, UK bands at the punk scene , the list is long & still continues today with artists & selectas playing to a non reggae crowd .

Do fans of other genres get into reggae this way , or is it a passing phase ?

I remember from way back in the early 80's seeing Mikey Dread doing a support slot with UB40, I had never heard of him before, so that helped to kindle my interest, that was a reggae on reggae thing though.

So has anyone on here came to reggae through different genres & particularly because of the "new audience thing" ?

Plenty of people have gotten into reggae through other genres, I first got seriously interested after hearing some of the well known Marley songs played on a small indie rock station I was listening to at the time (early 90's), having grown up with some of the pop crossover stuff (UB40, Eddy Grant, Jimmy Cliff etc.). Someone else I know was a Two Tone fan and followed that into reggae, eventually compiling some well regarded reggae reissues. Many have also come from the punk route, be it UK (Clash etc.) or US (Bad Brains or some of the ska revival groups). Who have ears to hear as so many of the songs say.

In the larger sense, is the crossover effect successful, I would have to say it is a qualified yes. Certainly in the 70's with more mainstream acts like Eric Clapton, Johnny Nash, Stones and others covering reggae songs and promoting the artists was an incalculable boost at a time when Jamaican music was in an incredibly fertile and creative period - I am sure history would be much different if it weren't for those people from other genres getting involved. Nowadays music of all styles and types and information is more widespread and easily available than ever before, niche genre music like reggae to some extent isn't so special or exotic anymore & its innovations have long since been absorbed and assimilated into mainstream music. As far as the artists, it would seem the shoe is now on the other foot, reggae itself is long past its creative prime and increasingly regionalized so there is little to offer mainstream artists, it is more the reggae acts hoping to get a boost from crossing over with other, more commercially viable genres.

Around 1995, my love of punk rock (mostly the skateboarding side of it before Blink 182, Green Day etc ruined it forever) yielded up Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, and simulateously my good college mate bought a copy of Dubhead vol 1 and I've been hooked ever since.

I have always thought this works. Whether back in the 80s when I was growing up with punk, reggae and African bands often on the same bill or today with reggae DJs/sounds playing at dance events or festivals. It might not be the purist's dream lineup, but that isn't really the point.

As the dubstep scene has fragmented, in particular, there have been a lot of people wanting to explore the original drum and bass. At the same time, there are quite of lot of crossover reggae styles around at the moment that really wouldn't cut it in a dance. But that's for people to make up their own minds about.

We all start somewhere and while reggae has always been largely an underground music, it has always had and needed a commercial and accessible dimension. The crossover is where reggae meets the rest of the world, giving a chance for more to get onboard the reggae train.

Ital Dokta wrote: As far as the artists, it would seem the shoe is now on the other foot, reggae itself is long past its creative prime and increasingly regionalized so there is little to offer mainstream artists, it is more the reggae acts hoping to get a boost from crossing over with other, more commercially viable genres.

dan i dubdub wrote:As the dubstep scene has fragmented, in particular, there have been a lot of people wanting to explore the original drum and bass.

I do the two hour warm up at a regular old school jungle night. Loads of the youngsters love their reggae but don't know that much beyond what has been sampled in jungle. I enjoy playing to them more than some of the other stuff we do, because they're really enthusiastic and eager to learn and hear more. It helps that a lot of jungle MCs cut their teeth on reggae sounds in the 80's, so a bit of Tenor Saw etc gets them going.

dan i dubdub wrote:As the dubstep scene has fragmented, in particular, there have been a lot of people wanting to explore the original drum and bass.

I do the two hour warm up at a regular old school jungle night. Loads of the youngsters love their reggae but don't know that much beyond what has been sampled in jungle. I enjoy playing to them more than some of the other stuff we do, because they're really enthusiastic and eager to learn and hear more. It helps that a lot of jungle MCs cut their teeth on reggae sounds in the 80's, so a bit of Tenor Saw etc gets them going.

definitely - the hardcore-jungle rave scene and then dubstep scene all have brought people inon a jungle pirate like Kool FM you now get the odd reggae show - likewise dubstep DJs like V.I.V.E.K, not only play the odd dub set, but have built a sound, and play it at the dome in tufnell park